Ok, what went wrong?

[Vinny]

1st off, no I was not drinking ... yet. It was a freehand deal, the problem with the not so straight cut is I couldn't see the line I was trying to follow and the blowback destroyed that cheapass wire height guide. I'm in the process of making one with wheels now. I'll post pics when it's done (hopefully today). The tip is new and under close inspection it's still good. A youtube video I saw showed what a bad and going bad tip looks like.

Pete, the rust only gets in the way if you not using a pilot arc cutter. Mine is. They're more expensive but after seeing videos of the difference and the fact that they're what you want for CNC, I went the extra $100. The pilot starts the arc before you get to the metal being cut, non pilot you need to tap the tip on the metal to start the arc so you need to clean it up first.

[Vinny]

One more note on drinking, I probably would've had a straighter cut if I had a couple before hand.

[DaveH]

(06-04-2015, 04:10 PM)Vinny Wrote: One more note on drinking, I probably would've had a straighter cut if I had a couple before hand.

Nope

DaveH

[Vinny]

Yep, here's the proof. Although I used a straight edge this time, it caused the slight mess in the top cut when the thumb screw hit the clamp holding the straight edge and tilted the cutter in on an angle.

So, I had a couple beers, dragged everything outside, started the hilo and raised the forks to a comfortable work height, found the best place to start and between the straight edge and some freehand the edge would only be in the way for (corners) we have a better cut and my mill table will now be 37" instead of 37.5".

[oldskoolron]

I recon its cause theres nowhere for the spent air an molten steel to go bein a confined space and its blown back on itself .when I had my exhaust shop cutting pipe in middle of it always had heaps of dags but if it was close to the end of the pipe cut was good
just my 20 cents worth